Friday, May 22, 2009

11:36 AM

Congressional Quarterly profiled Congress' "passionate curmudgeon" Thursday -- U.S. Rep. Dave Obey -- with a lengthy article detailing the massive influence the Wausau Democrat now has over the national economy.

Noting the favorable political climate -- including the Obama White House and a deferential Senate counterpart in Daniel Inouye of Hawaii -- CQ says that, in his 40th year in Congress, Obey has accumulated more influence than any of his previous House tenures.

UW-Madison political scientist David Canon tells CQ that Obey is "clearly exerting so much more influence over the economy than any of his predecessors."